On 2nd April the government announced that 4-car electric trains would be provided to Northern Rail in 2014 and 2015 to run services on the newly-electrified line from Manchester to Liverpool. You can read more about it in Northern Rail's press release (note the station in the accompanying picture should be familiar to passengers at Eccles!). Two of the new trains will be running from December 2014, with the remainder being introduced during 2015.

Friends of Patricroft Station (FrOPS) and Friends of Eccles Station (FRECCLES) are pleased to announce that a half hour Adjournment Debate on Rail Services in Eccles has been secured by Hazel Blears, MP for Salford and Eccles.

Part of the work of Friends of Patricroft Station (FrOPS) and Friends of Eccles Station (FRECCLES) involves campaigning for a more frequent rail service at the local stations. This campaign takes many forms, including working with the rail franchise operator - Northern Rail - and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) towards a vision for service improvements. Additionally, representatives from both FrOPS and FRECCLES recently met with Hazel Blears, MP for Salford and Eccles, to discuss support for improved rail service frequency at both Eccles and Patricroft station.

We are pleased to announce that a half hour Adjournment Debate is scheduled to take place in Westminster Hall next Wednesday, 26th March 2014, 4.30-5pm, on Rail Services in Eccles.The debate will be broadcast and can be viewed on BBC Parliament or online through the Parliament.UK website.

We hope supporters will join us in welcoming this positive development in local rail services.

Volunteers from Friends of Patricroft Station have begun spring-cleaning the garden areas at Patricroft station - as you can see from the photos below, the daffodils in the planter tubs are blooming nicely (click on the images to enlarge the photos).

Community volunteers - and new volunteers are always welcome to join us at gardening sessions - have also begun clearing new planting areas and preparing for new plants in the forecourt area at the entrance to the station.Dafodills on @PatricroftFrOPS

The FrOPS Twitter profile image has also received a spring make-over, showing support for Marie Curie Cancer Care with the addition of a Twibbon for March - the iconic Marie Curie daffodil emblem.

Find out more about the Great Daffodil Appeal at Marie Curie Cancer Care.On Twitter? Show your support for Marie Curie Cancer Care this March by adding the daffodil Twibbon to your profile picture (click on the image to go to twibbon.com).

FRECCLES and FrOPS have drawn up the following prioritised list of aspirations for Eccles and Patricroft train services, for implementation from December 2014 onwards. These aspirations were presented to Transport for Greater Manchester at a meeting for Rail User Groups in February 2014; we wait to see how vigorously TfGM will pursue them.

A train every 30 minutes throughout the day

An hourly Sunday service for Patricroft

An hourly weekday service from Eccles to Piccadilly & Manchester Airport

A direct hourly service to Chester & North Wales

Build platforms at Salford Central station so Eccles to Victoria trains can stop there

A direct service from Eccles to London and Bradford, as proposed by Alliance Rail

Friends of Patricroft Station have recently begun an association with Incredible Edible Salford, with the view to installing new planters on the platforms at Patricroft Station to grow edible foods as part of a sustainable project.Two public meetings are being held locally to publicise this initiative, which has been awarded funding from the NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group. Please join us at one of the upcoming meetings on Wednesday 26th February 6-8pm at Eccles Fire Station, or Saturday 1st March 12noon - 2pm at the Castle Community Centre, Lewis Street, to find out more about this exciting local project.Click on the link below to download the Flyer document

From Thursday 2 January, Northern Rail fares rise by an average of 2.8%.Further information about the January fare rises is available on the Northern Rail website - follow this link...https://www.northernrail.org/news/7382

From Wednesday 25 December 2013 until Wednesday 1 January 2014 trains will not be able to run to Manchester Victoria, due to engineering works taking place over the Christmas and New Year period as part of Network Rail's project to electrify the railway lines in the North West.Services to the west of Manchester will start and terminate at Salford Central, or will be diverted to Manchester Oxford Road...

Please note that the scheduled Heritage Group meeting in the Queens Arms tomorrow evening (Thursday 12th) is being postponed. This is due to unavailability of several group members.We will try and reconvene sometime in the New Year, so watch this space.

Oral History Project

In November 2012, FrOPS, together with Freccles (the Friends of Eccles Station), secured Heritage Lottery funding for an oral history project to record the memories of local people of the two stations and their surrounding areas. Working with a professional oral historian, the project is gathering and recording the stories that will help people explore, share and celebrate their local heritage.

The interviews will be completed by the end of September 2013 and there will be an event to mark the end of the project on Friday 22 November 2013 in the newly restored ballroom of Eccles Town Hall. This will take place between 3 pm and 5 pm and again between 6 pm and 8 pm.

A CD will also be available of an edited version of all the interviews.

From Elizabeth at FRECCLES..."Can I grasp this opportunity to plug our next offering of the Caked in History heritage walk as part of the Eccles Cake festival. Meet at Eccles Station at 1pm on Wednesday 9th October. The whole walk is just over 5 miles but you can join us for some or all as you can manage, there will be plenty of breaks to look at the lovely sights & scenes. The walk is free."

FrOPS and FRECCLES are having a joint stall at the open day hosted and by Incredible Edibles Salford. The event is being held on Saturday 12th October, 10:30am-1pm, at Eccles Sixth Form Centre (a.k.a. 'Eccles College' - Chatsworth Road, Eccles, M30 9FJ).

A leaflet for the event has been produced - click on the full News blog item to find the document (in .pdf format).

If you're interested in being involved with this event, feel free to get in touch with FrOPS, FRECCLES, Incredible Edibles, or any of the other organisations listed on the leaflet.

FrOPS are pleased to delighted to announce that the mural at Patricroft Station has been shortlisted for an ACoRP Community Rail Award 2013.

Being shortlisted for this award is recognition of the all the hard work that students of St. Patrick's RC High School put in to produce the fantastic mural in the station tunnel.

The full title of the entry submitted is ‘Pioneers of the Industrial Revolution’ mural in category 2A ‘Community Art Schemes – Permanent Projects’, which has been selected for the awards that will be held in late September.